


Smoke & Mirrors

by vic_amy_z



Category: Actor RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-22
Updated: 2011-10-22
Packaged: 2017-10-24 20:49:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/267740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vic_amy_z/pseuds/vic_amy_z
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when the big boys have to learn to share?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smoke & Mirrors

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kita's RPS ficathon. This is my first RPS, a little angsty and a little schmoopy - so sue me! To quote those more talented: 'Please, if they're no good, they're only words, but… the feeling behind them…'

The day was going to be a warm one, James could feel it already and it was still pretty early. He took a moment, as he was crossing the lot, to close his eyes and turn his face to the sky, letting its early morning warmth wash over him.

He felt like he was seeing the sun a lot more, since he moved over to 'Angel'. He knew it wasn't true. When you're on set, they can make it day or night regardless of what time it is in the real world. But it still felt like there was more sun.

It was also starting to feel like *his* set. Like he was a part of the cast, and not just some interloper whose presence was as much political as it was artistic. Not that anyone had made him anything but welcome, but James knew how he'd probably feel in their position.

And on set, there was suddenly some very interesting news going around. It was just a buzz that was supposed to be restricted to those on a need-to-know basis, but James had flirted a little with one of the girls in make-up and picked up the details. Somehow, the crew are always the first to know what's happening. Having the heads up before everyone else was making him feel strangely pleased with himself, so before his first call, he decided to stop and share the news.

James bounded the last few steps across the lot and knocked sharply on the door of David's trailer. It was answered after a few seconds, and Dave stood, tall and broad, leaning casually against the frame.

'Hey man, what's up?' he asked.

'Just wondering if you'd heard the news yet?'

'Not so far, what's happening?'

James hadn't realised until that moment, just how oddly excited he was about the whole thing. He'd planned to drop it into a casual conversation, but suddenly he was bursting to tell someone.

'You'll never guess who Weed's bringing back to the show…' Dave looked like he was about to give it some thought. 'Lindsey!' James finished, not giving him the chance.

'Really? Well, you seem pretty wired about the news.' David laughed at him.

'Are you kidding? Lindsey's such a great character, really complex. And the guy who plays him is amazing. It's gonna be cool.'

When he'd known for sure that'd he'd be coming over to 'Angel', James had watched the first four seasons of the show to bring himself up to speed. He liked to be thorough. Watching Christian Kane on screen, James had been struck by his compelling performance, and found himself inexplicably drawn to him in almost every scene. Hence the excitement…

'And have you heard him sing? Wow!' Thoughts of Lindsey's bittersweet singing in his final episode came flooding back to James, catching him off-guard for a moment. 'I think he's in a band too. I can't wait to meet him.'

Through all this, David had been smiling indulgently at James and his excited babbling. Then a mischievous look took over. 'I wondered if you'd know already,' said James, finally pausing for breath, 'I thought you we're good friends with Christian Kane.'

'Oh, you mean *this* guy?' David asked, casually, and pushed open his trailer door the rest of the way to reveal one Christian Kane sitting in a chair.

Chris tipped his can of soda to James, who could feel himself flushing a very unattractive shade of scarlet as David was practically doubled over with laughter.

'Yup, that would be him,' James conceded, wryly. He toed the earth and briefly wondered why silent pleas for it to open up and swallow you were so rarely met.

'You're an asshole, Boreanaz, you know that, right?' Chris shot at his friend. He came over to the doorway and offered his hand to James with a broad smile. 'Hi, I'm Chris, and very pleased to meet you too.'

James shook his hand, nodded and continued to blush. By this time, Dave had himself more or less under control and offered his hand too.

'Sorry man, but it was too good an opportunity to miss. You know I love fucking with ya when you go all 'hyper-mode' on me.'

'Yeah, I really must thank you for that one day.' James said through comically gritted teeth. 'Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be on set waiting for my skin to return to its normal shade and trying to get my foot out of my mouth.'

Dave was still chuckling at James. Chris gave him a friendly punch as he stepped past him and out of the trailer. 'Don't mind that jerk,' he said to James, conspiratorially, 'he forgot to take his medication this morning.'

'Hey!' Dave protested. 'You're on my show now. Where's the respect?'

Still smiling, Chris took a step closer, bringing him slightly beyond the boundaries of normal personal space. James lowered his gaze. He could smell the earthy musk of soap on the other man's skin.

'I think that colour looks good on you,' Chris said, in a voice that was almost a whisper, 'and if you need any help getting that foot out of your mouth, give me shout.'

James looked up again; so fast it felt like his head was on a spring. He expected laughter, but there wasn't any. Chris just looked at him intently with steely blue eyes…

'Hey, it was good to finally meet you,' he finished.

And the moment was gone.

'Yeah, you too.' They shook again, Chris grasping James hand firmly with both of his. 'I'll… uh… see you both later, yeah?' James stammered.

'Later,' Dave echoes.

As James walked away, he was pretty sure that they were both watching him go, and wondered how it was that he was moving at all when he didn't think that his feet were even touching the ground.

~~~~~~~~

Chris heard David pop open another can of soda as he leafed idly through the shooting script on the table.

'You were! You were totally flirting with him,' Dave continued, sounding halfway between laughter and anger.

'Okay, maybe a little, but why not? You have *seen* him, right?'

'Yeah, sure. The guy's a looker, I get that.'

Now Chris detected a hint of sulking in there too. 'Ooh, do I sense a raw nerve there,' he laughed at his friend. 'Is your star status being threatened now that you have to play nice with the new corporate toy?' He ducked as Dave attempted to smack him playfully over the head.

'Fuck off! It's nothing like that. It's just…' David trailed off awkwardly.

'You're jealous?'

'Yeah, 'cause *that's* it. Is the air thinner down where you are or something?' Chris just laughed at him. 'Anyway, I know what a slut you are. You'd flirt with anything with a pulse.'

''S been you before now…' Chris looked up into David's eyes, forcing him to meet his gaze.

The taller man just shrugged and laughed, a little uncomfortably. 'Like I said - 'slut' and 'anything with a pulse'…' He settled companionably at the table, opposite Chris.

Then there was silence in the trailer. Chris stared hard at Dave, who, for all the world, looked like he was reading his script. Chris would have been willing to bet that he wasn't reading at all. In fact, he would have bet that Dave couldn't have picked that page out of a line-up.

After several minutes, Chris gave up staring at him and went to get another soda from the small fridge. Best friends or not, he guessed some things were better left unsaid…

~~~~~~~~

James loved his job. He truly did. If he could have chosen to be anything in the whole world, this would have been it.

Having Chris join the cast was the best thing that could have happened to him. The guy was like the missing piece of the puzzle, and the two of them became really close: working endlessly on their scenes together, always pushing each other to do better.

And Chris' longstanding friendship with David brought James closer to the leading man too, on a different level to their friendship from the 'Buffy' days. Before long, the three of them were always together on set: working, hanging out, having a laugh. James always wanted to say 'The Three Musketeers', only he knew it was way too cheesy, but that was what it felt like.

James was sometimes acutely aware of the pretty picture they made when they were all together. Dave and Chris seemed to take it all in their stride, thinking nothing of spending time with each other or with the rest of the cast, but a tiny part of James thought that this was what it must feel like to hang out with the popular kids in school.

After a few months of filming though, everyone was starting to get a little restless, and no one more so than David. One slow afternoon, James found himself ambushed by Dave as he went over his lines. Chris was filming a scene with Sarah, and they were on what felt like the four hundredth take.

Several minutes later, probably just as there was a small chance of it going right and everyone being able to move on, James found himself as part of a very uncoordinated kick line involving Dave, Andy and Amy, going across the back of the shot in Chris' scene. By the time they crossed back again in a conga, they had gained Alexis and Mercedes! The whole set was in stitches and it improved the mood of the afternoon no end, but from there the war was on…

For almost a week, chaos ruled on the set. Costumes were changed; props were moved. James got to the point where he didn't dare open a door or cupboard on set, for fear of what he might find on the other side of it! Dave found his blood mix mysteriously spiked with something unspeakably foul at just the wrong moment. He never did ask them what they'd done to it…

Unfortunately, Chris and Dave had discovered that James was a real giggler, so every scene that he did, particularly the serious ones, was spent trying to avoid looking at them, and their goal seemed to be to put themselves in his eye line as often as possible. They went through every stupid face they could have managed to pull to try and make him laugh. They grabbed each other in mock embraces so it looked like they were making out. They even went as far as 'mooning' at him - it took James almost a whole morning to pull himself together after that one.

Then, as fast as it had begun, it was all over again. Chris was off set for a while working on other projects, his character having been sucked into a portal for the foreseeable future, and Dave was taking time off to recover from a knee operation.

That left James pretty much on his own - the one musketeer. He called them both to find out how they were getting on, just to hear their voices for a while. He chatted about the ongoing filming 'Smile Time' and the joys of working with a puppet, keeping it light and work related. He certainly didn't want to admit that he missed them.

The days dragged on endlessly. The rest of the cast seemed to be having a huge amount of fun working with the puppets and the puppeteers, and the set was constantly ringing with laughter. But James couldn't remember a time when he'd felt lonelier.

Finally, David came back and Chris wasn't far behind him. Just as it was starting to feel like fun again, it happened.

He was sitting on set with Dave and Chris, just like they usually did, when Joss came in with Kelly.

'That’s it. They said they’re not picking us up for another season.'

Everyone waited for the punch line.

None came.

~~~~~~~~

Dave was using an unexpectedly quiet moment on set to work on a new stunt with James. His knee still wasn't a hundred percent, but he hated having to rely on a stunt double. They worked quietly together, mainly because every one else was really quiet. A door banged a way off and Chris came stomping noisily in, throwing his bag down on a chair.

'For fuck sake! It's like a morgue around here.' Dave looked up at him from his position on the mat, and then around at the rest of the set. He had to agree with him.

'A party, that's what we need.'

'That's *all* we've been doing since we got the news, ' Dave sighed, sitting up. 'Hasn't helped so far.' He'd done a few 'embrace the pain' sessions with some of the others, but if he was honest, having the cancellation of the show finally confirmed came as something of a relief.

James plonked himself down on the mat too. 'There just isn't enough alcohol in the world for that, man.'

'No, a *proper* party. Not just a few people hitting a bar, getting shit-faced and weeping into their drinks. I mean an all-out, all night, raucous laughter, drink 'til you pass out kinda party. Like the good old days.' The last part was directed at Dave.

'Okay, I'm interested,' he conceded. 'But where? And when?'

'My place. This weekend.'

'Whoa! You serious?' Dave asked. Chris was normally very private when it came to his home. Dave had been there a few times, but usually they met at his place.

'Absolutely. People can drive out, crash over and we can all have breakfast and chronic hangovers together.'

'But that only gives us, what... two days?' James chipped in.

'Nice math there, Jamie.' Chris mocked. 'Keep that up and you'll be ready for some big numbers soon.'

'Fuck you!' he replied with a laugh, swinging a leg out and catching Chris 'round the ankles, bringing him crashing onto the mat as well.

There were yells of indignation from Chris and cries from James as Chris went mercilessly for his ribs. The sight of the two of them writhing on the mat was making David feel distinctly uncomfortable, a stab of something inside himself that he chose to ignore… Not to mention the looks they were attracting from passing crewmembers.

He cleared his throat. 'You guys want me to get you a room?'

They pulled themselves together, still laughing at each other. 'Sorry, man.' James was the one to apologise. Chris just looked at him with a wry expression.

'So,' Chris continued, composing himself. 'Sound like a plan?'

'Sure.'

'Gets my vote.'

'Great!' Chris pulled himself up off the floor and absently brushed off his jeans. 'And bring your guitar, James.' For a brief moment, there was a look and a smile between them that Dave felt totally excluded from. 'Well, let's go and spread the word, people!'

And despite the fact that between the three of them, they only managed to tell around a quarter of the people on set before getting caught up in other stuff, the word still managed to spread itself…

And despite the fact that it was pretty short notice, so lots of people already had weekend plans, Dave still arrived to around forty or so cast and crew gathered at Chris' house in the hills.

In some kind of unspoken agreement, everyone had come armed with drinks, food, and the need to have a really great time. Dave smiled to himself as he surveyed the scene of friends and colleagues mingling with ease - only Chris could manage to throw one of those effortless parties that just seem to 'happen'.

He scanned the room for his friend, and eventually spotted him sitting close to James on one of the sofas. Again, there was an odd wrenching feeling in his stomach. He blamed the burritos he'd had for lunch.

'Hey!' Chris' face lit up as he saw David approaching. 'We thought you'd bailed on us.' He shuffled up a little closer to James to make room, and Dave slumped down next to him.

'What? And abandon you guys with all this beer to get through? Not likely…'

'So, haven't you been here, like, ninety seconds already?' Chris asked, with mock reproach. 'Someone get this man a drink!'

And almost immediately a cold beer was thrust into his hand by a passing guest. Further evidence of the Kane 'Effortless Party Machine' in action, Dave thought amusedly to himself.

They drank and chatted for a while, about anything and everything, just enjoying the chance to kick back and relax in good company. Someone passed a few joints around, which they smoked companionably. Eventually they got up to get more beers and to talk to other people. Dave started to work his way methodically through the room, as was his habit, before he got too wasted. He made sure he spoke personally to everyone, remembering to ask about husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, kids and pets. Not that people expected him to, which was exactly why he did it.

At some point when he was talking to a few of the production crew, he heard the sound of guitars and voices from the other side of the room, a melancholy tune and James' deep voice pulling a hush over one end of the room…

'' Are we done for now / or is this for good / will there be something in / time with us there should / only girl for me is you / there can be no other one / if I didn't have faith / I would come undone…''

Then there was some applause and laughter, and Dave realised that he had no idea what had been said to him for the last few minutes. He made a polite excuse about needing another drink and moved quickly away.

It was some time later, as he was nearing the end of his rounds, that Dave suddenly realised the party had kicked up a few gears while he'd been busy schmoozing. The alcohol was in full flow, the music seemed a lot louder and inhibitions appeared to have been checked at the door.

He steered himself over to Andy and Alexis who were watching Amy and Mercedes dancing together in the middle of the room.

'Well, they certainly seem to be having fun,' Dave commented.

'Yeah, they've been on the tequila for the last hour.' Alexis replied. 'And by the look of them, I'd say they're about three shots away from going into a full-scale floorshow,'

'I'll get another bottle…!' Andy said eagerly.

Dave chuckled at the thought, and looked around for the guys to share the moment with.

'Hey, either of you seen James or Chris lately?'

'Not for a while. You seen the tequila?'

'Shit, you really are serious, aren't you?' Alexis laughed and shook his head, 'I don't know where they are, sorry. Try the kitchen…'

Dave went through there on the pretext of picking up another beer. There were a fair few people in there, including Joss, but not James or Chris.

He headed back through the party and upstairs. He told his brain that he was headed for the bathroom. Thankfully, his brain chose not to point out that there was a fully functional bathroom downstairs.

The upstairs of Chris' place was very quiet in comparison to the party going on below, the low wall lights softly illuminating the way.

One of the doors was open a tiny amount. Dave recognised it as the door to Chris' upstairs recreational room, the 'den' as he'd sometimes referred to it. A wave of irrational anger washed over him at the thought of the two of them sneaking off together, probably to play their guitars, or maybe even to watch TV. He felt… excluded.

It was dark inside the room but he pushed the door open anyway. The pale light from the landing streamed into the room and over the back of a low couch, showing him that he'd at least found where his friends had got to.

The two figures sprang apart and for a split second, David wondered if he'd really seen what he thought he'd seen, or if it was just a trick of the light; an illusion done with smoke and mirrors…

Before his mouth could check with his brain on what he wanted to say, it was open, and he was asking, 'What the hell's going on?'

If there was ever a question he didn't want to know the answer to, then that was it.

'For fuck sake, come in and close the door. Before you bring the whole damn party up here with you…' Chris was sitting up indignantly on the edge of the couch.

On automatic pilot, David stepped over the threshold and pushed the door closed behind him. The room was plunged into darkness and he began to feel like a cornered animal.

'Look… I don't want… I mean…'

'Oh, don't act so fucking surprised!' came an angry hiss. 'It's not like you didn't know. Otherwise, what the hell were you doing up here in the first place?'

As Dave's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to see that it wasn't dark in the room at all. Although there weren't any lights on, the drapes at the huge window were pulled back, letting in bright moonlight. It cast a soft, bluish glow across the whole room and caught its angle and planes with brilliant highlights.

In a few seconds, he was able to take in every detail of the scene in front of him. The rumpled sofa cover that announced that they'd been here a while, the look of anger so clearly written across Chris' face. And James, head tipped back against the cushions so he could see towards the door, kiss-swollen lips, the front of his jeans undone, t-shirt un-tucked, and his eyes, glazed over and dilated from fuck knows what. He was smiling, almost oblivious to what else was going on.

'Fuck… I don't know… Look, I'm sorry… I'll go…' David turned and placed a hand on the door handle.

'No!' The voice was hoarse, a little unsteady.

'What?'

'I said no.' Calmer now. 'You leave now, and this just becomes something else that we don't talk about.'

'Oh, come on… Not this again…' Dave tried to keep his voice down, acutely aware that James was taking more of an interest in the conversation now. 'It was… We were drunk off our asses, and had a… it was nothing.'

'Either your memory is pretty damn selective, or it's failing at an early age, Boreanaz, 'cause that's sure as hell not how I remember it.' Chris was standing now, and walking around the back of the sofa towards him.

Suddenly, the memories of that night came rushing headlong back to him. He remembered dragging Chris into a drunken bear hug, holding him tight for longer that was necessary. He remembered lowering his head as their lips touched and being pulled into a passionate kiss. He remembered how they ended up against a wall, still kissing frantically and pawing at each other's clothes. He remembered being harder that he ever thought possible, pushing his hips against Chris' and finding him the same. He remembered wanting another man in ways he'd never even entertained before. He remembered…

Chris stood directly in front to him, reading the guilt that Dave could feel so clearly written on his face.

'Maybe I need to remind you…'

And suddenly, they were there all over again. Chris pressed him back against the wall, and kissed him hard, hands holding him firm. Frozen in the grip of countless fears and emotions, David tried to resist.

Then he was kissing him back and the world fell away…

~~~~~~~~

Watching the two figures as they wrapped their arms around each other, their lips crushed together in a fiery kiss, James felt as though he should be angry.

But he wasn't. In fact, all he could think about was how hot they looked together. Fuck… he was definitely stoned.

For some time, James simply watched the two of them work out a lot more than just their frustrations. Eventually the kiss was broken.

'I was… er… kind of in the middle of something, before…' Chris gestured towards the couch, still breathing hard.

'Hey! I'm just a 'something' now?'

'Right…' Dave stammered, 'I'll just…' he headed for the door, but Chris took hold of his hand and led him wordlessly to the couch.

Looks flashed between them; looks that said, 'stay' and 'you sure?' and 'please'… They settled either side of James and Chris moved in to kiss him. He met the lips hungrily, his t-shirt being pushed up by insistent hands. The mouth on his opened and James sank into the kiss, lips and tongues moving in a pattern of need and want.

Then Chris was sliding down his body, pulling at his open jeans and freeing his erection. James felt a warm mouth slide over it and let out a moan, his head falling back against the cushions. He was dimly aware of the fact the David was watching them, until he felt another pair of lips on his, another set of hands roaming under his clothes, and he was lost to the sensation.

Between them, the two men reduced him to little more than an incoherent, trembling mass. David's weight pinned him helplessly to the sofa as James thrust his hips, trying to push himself further into Chris' mouth. He cried out something unintelligible as his length hit the back of Chris' throat and David pinched a nipple between his huge fingers. His neck was being kissed and bitten; hard bruising bites that made every nerve in his body twitch and jump with desire.

It was a feeling that he wanted to last a lifetime, being so passionately ravished by two men at the same time, but even the combination of pot and alcohol he'd grown unused to wasn't enough to delay the inevitable.

With a strangled cry of 'fuckyesohgodnow' he came hard, hips straining, legs trembling, cock twitching.

Gentle lips kissed him, long and slow as he gradually came down. Then he was kissing Chris, tasting himself and beer and smoke. Next to him, Dave softly breathed, 'Fuck me, that was amazing…'

James wanted to say, '*You* though it was amazing? Imagine what it felt like for me!', but he couldn't co-ordinate himself to form words, so settled for simply nodding.

Chris moved across to Dave and caught his lips in another kiss. James pried open one eye to watch them, but the effort was too much to maintain. Instead, he listened to the soft licking noises, which were erotic in themselves. Chris was straddled across Dave's lap and after a few seconds, James heard clothing being stripped off. He reached over and gently stroked the exposed skin until his hand was caught up and kissed softly.

Drifting on a drink / drug / orgasmic haze, James was barely aware of what was happening next to him. Dave and Chris didn't seem to mind that they'd been left to their own devices, and he was more than happy to have his hand held as he listened to their soft moans and whimpers and cries of 'fuck' and 'yes' and 'more'.

He drifted off to the erotic sound track…

Someone lit a cigarette in the darkness, the yellow flame in sharp contrast to the blue of the room. He felt it being placed between his lips and took a long satisfied drag; the acrid smoke and heady smell telling him that it was a joint and not a cigarette. He held it in until his lungs protested loudly.

Then there was very little else…

Much later, he felt a blanket being pulled over him as he dozed contentedly on the couch. He didn't let on that he was awake, his eyes staying firmly closed.

'Man, is it just me, or is James *really* cute when he's asleep?'

'I think you're stoned.'

A beat.

'Okay, maybe a little cute. Happy now?'

'Definitely. But I got to say… 'Maybe I need to remind you'? Whoa…'

'I know, it was cheesy. But what can I say? It was a heat of the moment thing.'

'Hmm…'

'I promise, my next come on will be much better!'

'Yeah, you wish!'

The soft 'snick' of the door closing cut off the sound of their friendly laughter, but James was still smiling to himself as he drifted off again…

~~~~~~~~

'Owwww…'

'I'll see your 'owwww', and raise you a 'never again'…'

Chris rolled over in bed and promptly fell out the other side.

'Fuck!' He lay on the floor, groaning and holding his head.

'I'm thinking you probably didn't want to do that.'

A voice from the doorway made him look up to see James, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, leaning against the frame and regarding him with a look of amusement.

There was a silence. All three men smiled sheepishly at each other, and Dave tried to slide inconspicuously out of the other side of the bed.

'Hey, don't get up on my account, man. I think between the three of us, we probably got the best places to sleep.' A slight raise of an eyebrow in David's direction. 'I've just been downstairs, and it ain't pretty!'

James' breeziness seemed very genuine to Chris.

'So. I'm cute when I'm asleep, huh?' A mischievous smile played at the corners of his mouth before it broke into a huge grin.

'You little shit!' Dave grabbed a pillow and hurled in at James' head, laughing. 'I'd be kicking your ass right now, if I didn't feel like my head's gonna explode!'

James laughed and threw the pillow back to him.

'You can owe me one.'

With a laugh, Chris resisted the urge to shut the door, drag both of them into bed and screw the consequences… among other things. Instead he allowed James to haul him to his feet, and somehow, they knew that they were going to be okay…

James was right though, downstairs was *not* pretty.

The bodies of the hardcore partiers who hadn't left the night before littered almost every available surface and the room was filled with the sounds of hangover induced groaning as people slowly came 'round.

He immediately headed for the kitchen in his role as 'hostess with the mostess'. A few minutes later James and Dave came in and snagged pitchers of juice to distribute to the masses, along with copious amounts of painkillers!

The smell of gently percolating coffee and hot buttered toast soon brought everyone staggering through to the kitchen and they spent the next few hours stuffing carbs and re-telling amusing stories of everyone's drunken antics from the night before…

'Oh god yes! And then you decided to make margaritas, only without any lime… or any tequila I think!'

'I know! I still have no idea what went into them but they were really awful!'

'If you find an empty bottle of paint stripper lying around here, Chris, I think we'll have a pretty good idea…'

'Urgh… don't remind me…'

If anyone noticed that Chris, James and Dave had been absent while most of it had happened, then no one mentioned it. And if anyone noticed the furtive looks that the three of them shared from time to time, then no one said anything about that either.

When the last of the other guests had said their goodbyes and headed home, and the front door had closed for the last time, all three collapsed gratefully onto the sofa with hung over sighs.

Surveying the carnage that surrounded them, it wasn't more than a few minutes before they were dragging themselves up again. Chris reluctantly handed out the trash bags and they grudgingly set about collecting up the plates and glasses. James attempted vacuuming the floor, but the noise proved to be one step too far.

'Leave it, man. I'll get it later. *Much* later…'

'Thank god for that, I thought my brain was gonna start leaking out of my ears!'

When the place started to at least resemble a home once again, they called it a day. Dave started to make noises about getting back to Jaime and Jaden, and James agreed that he should be heading off too.

Chris wanted them to stay; to hang out together on the sofa, drink sodas and watch crap TV. But more than that, he wanted them all to be okay together, so he said nothing and let them go.

They stood in the driveway, squinting in the bright sunlight.

There was so much that they could have said, but in the end none of it was necessary. They all seemed to hear the words 'one time only', without them needing to be voiced.

Chris pulled them into a fierce hug, first James and then Dave. They broke apart, and he said, quite seriously, 'Thanks for coming guys'. They cracked up.

'Honestly, you try to be polite and look what happens!'

'No really, we're sorry. And thanks for having us.'

More juvenile giggling between the two of them.

'Go on, fuck off!' he laughed.

His two friends climbed into their respective cars and sped away.

~~~~~~~~

'So, how do you feel now that 'Angel' is finally finished?'

David smiled falsely and launched into stock answer number seventeen. It was his fourth interview that week and he was tired. All he wanted to do was get home, kiss his kid before he went to bed, climb into a hot bath with a beer and forget all about 'Angel'…

As he rolled out the standard responses, his thoughts began to drift; he wondered what Chris was up to, wondered if *he* had to answer the same questions over and over again, wondered if he'd been in touch with James…

He often thought about that night; thought about what might have happened if he'd hung around the day after, about what might have happened if they'd thrown another party…

'… might be some TV or DVD movies in the future. Would you come back to the character?'

The tail end of the question interrupted his reflection, and he answered without thinking.

' I don't think I will, no.'

'Seriously?' The interviewer looked genuinely surprised.

Shit!

Dave laughed and bluffed his way through the answer; something about wrapping up loose ends and if it was the right thing to do, blah, blah, blah… The interviewer seemed to buy it.

Because seriously? He knew that he'd be in touch with James and Chris separately, see them at conventions for as long as he had to do those things, meet up with them socially once in a while. But if all three of them ended up working together again - and anything was possible in Joss's universe…?

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep to their unspoken agreement.

If any of them would.

'Thank you for your time, Mr Boreanaz.'

'No, thank *you*…'

~~~~END~~~~


End file.
